How necessary is a rack in a digital studio?

1

1Chance

New member
I've been recording for a bit now (still consider myself a newbie though), but still confused about this issue. Always thought racks were preferably used for live/stage recording, so not aware of any benefits it might have in the studio. Like for instance, if my soundcard has a Mic preamp in it, do I still need a hardware version? Can any1 please point out some of these benefits & if there are software substitutes for the components in a basic rack. Thanks
 
You answered your own question.

If you feel that you can do it all with software....then you don't need hardware....and you don't need the racks.

That said....
Even the smallest "all-digital" studios still have at least a few pieces of hardware, so you can decide if you need a small rack for it or if you prefer to just lay it down on the desktop.
Some digital studios still use a lot of analog hardware too, or at the least, have a bunch of standalone preamps, so they most likely would be mounted in a rack rather than just piled up on the desktop.

Racks are mostly for gear organization and protection....but they are not required for anyon to actually do any audio work...they just keep the studio setup neat, and let you put all your hardware in one spot, which also allows for neater cable runs to the gear....etc.
 
The outboard preamp would be redundant to the one in your interface, so it's not a "need", but as you become more experienced it might be a "want".

Asking if you should have a rack is like asking if you should put up a shelf; when you need one, it'll be obvious to you.
 
I moved to digital from analog. With analog I was used to racks with a mess of stuff in them.

Now I have nothing . . . straight into the interface, and everything else in the computer.
 
Ok thanks makes sense to me now
About the rack being a shelf, I was referring to the components in it
Lol
 
Other than the obvious basic hardware (I/O mostly), a rack full of stuff is as necessary as you want it to be.
 
polarity said:
From those of you who do this professionally, how many are still using rack gear out OTB effects?
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In the studios I work in there are racks full of preamps, dynamics processors and interface hardware. Interfaces that handle more inputs tend to be rack mountable, and at that level it's common to use separate preamps that are also rack mountable. The studios also have dynamics processors that are rack mountable. I tend to avoid going out of the box for stuff but I do use some dynamic processing on the way in. Once in a while when the producer twists my arm I'll go out through his ELOP and back in.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Once in a while when the producer twists my arm I'll go out through his ELOP and back in.
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I'm sure it's not THAT painful letting the audio go through an ELOP. ;)

I like using the ELOP section on my Manley/Langevin DVC for vocal tracks during mixdown...just to take a couple of dB off the top.
 
I do most of my fiddling in the box but I have a rack that contains a great Graphic EQ, two multi FX guitar things, a reverb unit, a compressor, 2 preamps, an Omnisonic 801 Imager and a patch bay to make those things a little easier to get to.
It's almost all gear I bought when I was recording to 4 track cassette.
I still use most of the gear occasionally but not the Alesis Microverb unit - I keep that because it was the ant's pants for a very short while.
 
miroslav said:
I'm sure it's not THAT painful letting the audio go through an ELOP. ;)

I like using the ELOP section on my Manley/Langevin DVC for vocal tracks during mixdown...just to take a couple of dB off the top.
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I often have to mix things that are tracked by others with the ELOP. It sounds pretty transparent during tracking and/or while soloed so I think they overdo it and leave me with too little dynamics. Besides, a compressor would be more appropriate than a limiter.

It takes a few minutes to set Pro Tools up for looping out through hardware, more time to physically patch it and it's not repeatable should I have to come back for a tweak. I'd rather use a good plugin for the workflow advantages over the ELOP for the supposed sound advantages. And I'd rather have a compressor than a limiter here as well.

For mixing and mastering I set up monitors and KVM remotely in the big room, away from the racks. I need to hear what I'm doing immediately, not be running back and forth between the racks in the control room and the mastering station.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
It takes a few minutes to set Pro Tools up for looping out through hardware, more time to physically patch it and it's not repeatable should I have to come back for a tweak. I'd rather use a good plugin for the workflow advantages over the ELOP for the supposed sound advantages. And I'd rather have a compressor than a limiter here as well.
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Well yeah, you only get 1-2 applications of a hardware device when mixing, unlike plugs.
I'm in the OTB world during mixdown, so I make use of the hardware I have. I rarely run out of racked processing gear during mixdown, so I don't over use any processing on a mix.
I like the ELOP on some vocals during mixdown, and I also have an older AD&R F601 limiter, and it too is really nice on vocals either going in or during mixdown. Of course, I'm just touching the random peaks rather than procesing the entire signal.
 
I have a small rack of some outboard gear. I like to impart some of it in the chain. I have a DBX 160A that no plugin can emulate (or no plugin has tried to emulate). I love it!
 
rayc said:
I do most of my fiddling in the box but I have a rack that contains a great Graphic EQ, two multi FX guitar things, a reverb unit, a compressor, 2 preamps, an Omnisonic 801 Imager and a patch bay to make those things a little easier to get to.
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I'm in a very similar boat here; i do most tweaking ITB and then run stuff through outboard if needs be/for a very specific sound (mainly distortions or compression). However, this bit made me a little bit sad;

I still use most of the gear occasionally but not the Alesis Microverb unit - I keep that because it was the ant's pants for a very short while.
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I've got an old Microverb 1 from 1983 (it's a year older than me!) and i love it to bits. Trying to keep a long story short a friend lent it to me about 5 years ago when my band was tracking a song that needed that over the top 80's style verb. i feel in love with it and started scouring ebay for another one. One appeared but i missed the end of the auction. I then saw the friend to return his microverb and told him about the one on ebay and he went "oh yeah, it went for £40". when i asked how he knew that he replied "well, i bought it so you could have the other one if you want it" :) Granted i don't use it all the time as Altiverb 6 is just awesome, but when the microverb is right, it's perfect
 
I had to stop using it Justsomeguy simply because it was the cuase & enabler of my reverb addiction. Once I stopped plugging into it I managed to use reverb only occasionally and much more judiciously.
Your mate is a good mate. Altruism is still alive and well!
I think I may be tempted to try just a taste...
 
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